Nash -- Improve or I'm Gone

[AsUpRoDiGy]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/e...me-back-to-the-suns-if-there-isnt-improvement

"It's going to be interesting this summer," he said. "Being a free agent, I didn't really want to leave at the deadline. I felt I owed it to my teammates and the Suns organization and the fans. I could possibly be back for sure. but that will be more interesting than the trade deadline.

"I definitely do want to win," he continued. "I'm not going to come back to the Suns if there isn't an improvement. If they're not ambitious and they're not looking to upgrade the roster seriously. And I think they are. They'll have a lot of flexibility in free agency. I think I've been standing pat so they could do some things this summer. I think they'll become a definite possibility for me, but I do want to win and I do want to consider all my options."

Nash deserves to win, and the Suns FO clearly isn't getting the job done. No big name FA wants to be in Phx, and rightfully so. Suns will make little to no impact in the offseason, and Nash will almost certainly leave -- hopefully to the Heat or another serious contender.

 

[slinslin]

There are no big name FAs.

Signing a bunch of has beens or medicore players to end up as the #9 seed for the 4th time in 5 years would be the worst thing.

Hope Nash leaves because this FO would be stupid enough to re-sign him and still refuse to rebuild.

 

[Folster]

This is such a lost season. We kept Nash to finish 9th. He'll leave and we'll have nothing to show for it except the lousy 14th pick.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

There are no big name FAs.

Signing a bunch of has beens or medicore players to end up as the #9 seed for the 4th time in 5 years would be the worst thing.

Hope Nash leaves because this FO would be stupid enough to re-sign him and still refuse to rebuild.

Could always trade Frye/Lopez/Childress/Warrick for an average player

 

[elindholm]

Ordinarily I support Nash, but this is a silly thing for him to have said, because he knows as well as anyone that the fundamentals of this franchise are too weak for any significant improvement to happen quickly. He should have either ducked the question or said, "I think probably the Suns are looking at rebuilding for a while, and I wish them all the best for that, but that's not how I'd like to spend the last few years of my career."

 

[slinslin]

This is such a lost season. We kept Nash to finish 9th. He'll leave and we'll have nothing to show for it except the lousy 14th pick.

Not only Nash, certainly there must have been a market for Grant Hill as well to some playoff team for a contract and a pick.

 

[82CardsGrad]

The time is long overdue for the team to do a total/complete purge and start the re-building process... I would keep Gortat. That's it...

 

[slinslin]

Gortat? What age do you think he will be when we are more than a fringe playoff team again? He will turn 29 next year and we will need at least 3 seasons if we start over this summer.
So he will turn 33 that season then and make around 12-14M$ per season.

I'm hoping so bad that we can turn Gortat into a top #2-5 pick on draft day and pick up Gilchrist, Beal or Drummond or worst case Thomas Robinson.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Gortat? What age do you think he will be when we are more than a fringe playoff team again? He will turn 29 next year and we will need at least 3 seasons if we start over this summer.
So he will turn 33 that season then and make around 12-14M$ per season.

I'm hoping so bad that we can turn Gortat into a top #2-5 pick on draft day and pick up Gilchrist, Beal or Drummond or worst case Thomas Robinson.

Ok... I'm sold. Dump the entire team as far as I'm concerned...

 

[jagu]

Sounds like an offseason setup for our ******* GM trying to build around Nash by trading players for overrated NBA players. Where the heck did I put my cyanide pills.

 

[FArting]

Nash is going to be here next year. He wants to retire as a sun.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Nash is going to be here next year. He wants to retire as a sun.

Pretty sure he wants to win a championship more than anything, which won't be accomplished in Phx for, oh, another couple decades...

 

[jagu]

Who exactly can the Suns get to please Nash? Who would come here? Suns have money but there are no FA's around. I think Nash was given some sort of guarantee that the team will be big players this offseason.

 

[hsandhu]

i pissed at nash... that he didn't force his way out this year. hopefully he goes to the heat and gets a title.

 

[Absolute Zero]

The hypothetical of LeBron James asking Nash to join up in Miami for one last push at a championship was brought up.

"I would listen," Nash said. "He's phenomenal. I love what they're doing there. A lot of people don't like them because they put all that talent there. But they're professional, they play hard, they play together. Their coaching staff has done a great job, so I have a tremendous amount of respect for them.
"I would definitely listen."

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/7752775/steve-nash-listen-miami-heat-free-agent

Guess we shouldn't be suprised. But on the surface, it seems ridiculous that we lost Amare without getting anything in return and the same may happen with Nash.

 

[jagu]

If Nash goes to the Heat, that's the last I'll ever watch the NBA. The NBA is already piss poor in parity and if that happens then that will be it.

 

[Superbone]

I hate the Heat as much as the next guy but I wouldn't mind seeing Nash get a championship. I don't care who he plays for. It's not going to be the Suns winning a championship any time soon so it might as well be Nash.

 

[AnotherHOMER]

This FO makes me sick.

Should have traded Nash.

 

[Folster]

Gortat? What age do you think he will be when we are more than a fringe playoff team again? He will turn 29 next year and we will need at least 3 seasons if we start over this summer.
So he will turn 33 that season then and make around 12-14M$ per season.

I'm hoping so bad that we can turn Gortat into a top #2-5 pick on draft day and pick up Gilchrist, Beal or Drummond or worst case Thomas Robinson.

I/m starting to agree with you. We may have to move Gortat much like when Memphis moved Paul Gasol. I'm not advocating a Gasol-like trade (player wise), just the reasoning behind it. I think we can do better than what Memphis initially got in return; although, they did luck out with Pau's brother Marc who wasn't projected to be as good as he turned out.

edit: Good God, I mucked something up when posting this.

 

[elindholm]

The Heat need a big man more than they need a PG. Bosh is barely an average starting PF and Wade seems always to be nursing some injury or other, so it's James and a supporting cast of semi-stars, same as always. It's not like James or Wade have trouble creating, so an All-Star PG would be a waste on that roster. They need someone who can pound it inside.

 

[Cheesebeef]

lol... Nash is delusional if he thinks we can get someone here... and I kinda think he KNOWS we can't get anyone... which means he should have just asked for a trade because he's as good as gone.

and if he DOES re-up knowing we can't sign anyone, then he just doesn't have the heart of a champion and just likes being top dog... even if it's for a bottom-feeder.

(insert lengthy discussion about Nash's heart here after that last comment).

 

[hsandhu]

The Heat need a big man more than they need a PG. Bosh is barely an average starting PF and Wade seems always to be nursing some injury or other, so it's James and a supporting cast of semi-stars, same as always. It's not like James or Wade have trouble creating, so an All-Star PG would be a waste on that roster. They need someone who can pound it inside.

Chalmers is absolutely killing them right now, that's why they've struggled lately. Nash will be a big upgrade, and james/wade need to be finishers not creators.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Story is starting to heat up in the national media -- overall consensus is that Nash is as good as gone, and the Suns FO was incompetent by not exploring trade possibilities for Nash. Steve is too classy to give up on his team-mates/fans mid-season, and I'm sure a part of him truly hoped the FO would make some sort of move to improve, but reality had to set in. He wants to win a championship, and the Heat would be unstoppable with Nash running the point -- that's undeniable.

 

[elindholm]

Nash will be a big upgrade, and james/wade need to be finishers not creators.

James has averaged 7 assists per game throughout his career and Wade 6, so it seems to me they do fine as creators as well as finishers. Of course Nash would be an upgrade, but his isn't the position of greatest need. Bosh is averaging only 6 rebounds and half a block in the entire month of March (compare Gortat with 9 and 1.4, and better scoring numbers as well). I think there's your culprit.

 

[Mainstreet]

I've been a Nash fan forever but he could have walked out the door like Amare with class and gone to a contender without the world crashing down. My take is Nash wants one last big paycheck (a multi-year guaranteed contract) from the Suns. The Suns will make some minimal moves that looks like improvement and both parties will make happy. Actually my fear is that the Suns pay Nash a huge contract and call him their big FA signing. Now the Suns lose if they keep Nash and lose if they let walk for nothing. Thanks Lon Babby.

Nash has already made it clear he is not going to sign on the cheap.